> This year’s edition of the Winter Meetings were a disappointment for the Brewers, to say the least. They offered deals to a few of their targets, including Ryan Dempster, Jason Grilli, and Sean Burnett, but all of them were rejected. Burnett ended up signing with the Angels because they offered him much more cash the Brewers. Grilli hasn’t signed yet, but the Brewers haven’t been in contact with him for over a week for some reason, so he’s off the table. Dempster is still out there, but is holding out for a three-year deal. So far, the parties interested in Dempster- the Brewers, Red Sox, and Royals- have offered him two-year deals, but have been hesitant to add on that third year because of his age.

So that’s about the gist of what happened- rather, what didn’t happen- at the Meetings.

> The Brewers did make a move today, however, signing left-hander Travis Webb to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.

Webb has spent his entire career with the Reds’ minor league affiliates, never making it to the Majors. He has a career ERA of 4.13 in the minors, but went a sub-par 2-6 with a 4.81 ERA in 2012 at Triple-A. Webb was a starter at the beginning of his professional career, but has since converted into a reliever.

> Doug Melvin said that the Brewers aren’t in on Brian Wilson. We can all take a sigh of relief now.

> Minor moves:

Rays: Signed Jason Bourgeois to a minor league deal.Astros: Took Josh Fields from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 Draft; took Nate Freiman from the Padres in the Rule 5 Draft; claimed Mickey Storey off waivers from the Yankees.Cubs: Took Hector Rondon from the Indians in the Rule 5 Draft; re-signed Ian Stewart to a one-year deal.Rockies: Took Danny Rosenbaum from the Nationals in the Rule 5 Draft; signed Justin Berg, Hernan Iribarren, Jeff Manship, Gustavo Molina, and Henry Wrigley to minor league deals.Twins: Took Ryan Pressly from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 Draft; acquired Vance Worley and Trevor May from the Phillies; re-signed Jared Burton to a two-year deal.Indians: Took Chris McGuiness from the Rangers in the Rule 5 Draft.Marlins: Took Alfredo Silverio from the Dodgers in the Rule 5 Draft; took Braulio Lara from the Rays in the Rule 5 Draft.Red Sox: Took Jeff Kobernus from the Nationals in the Rule 5 Draft; acquired Justin Henry from the Tigers; acquired Kyle Kaminska from the Pirates; signed Koji Uehara to a one-year deal; acquired Graham Godfrey from the Athletics.Mets: Took Kyle Lobstein from the Rays in the Rule 5 Draft.Diamondbacks: Took Starling Peralta from the Cubs in the Rule 5 Draft; signed Brandon McCarthy to a two-year deal.Phillies: Took Ender Inciarte from the Diamondbacks in the Rule 5 Draft; acquired Ben Revere from the Twins.White Sox: Took Angel Sanchez from the Angels in the Rule 5 Draft.Orioles: Took T.J. McFarland from the Indians in the Rule 5 Draft.Rangers: Took Coty Woods from the Rockies in the Rule 5 Draft; signed Randy Wells, Evan Meek, Brandon Allen, and Jake Brigham to minor league deals.Padres: Acquired Wilfredo Boscan from the Rangers.Braves: Re-signed Reed Johnson to a one-year deal.Yankees: Re-signed Brett Gardner to a one-year deal; outrighted Jayson Nix to Triple-A.Reds: Re-signed Ryan Ludwick to a two-year deal.

Kidding, but he might be right on this one. Yesterday, Jon Heyman clarified some rumors of the Brewers going after free agent Josh Hamilton this offseason. Naturally, Brewers fans- myself included- became hyped around this news.

However, Haudricourt himself interviewed Mark Attanasio last night, and apparently Attanasio “gave no indication that adding a hitter was a priority.”

Attanasio also added: “We’ve got the No. 1 offense in the league. We know what’s working. We have to fix the bullpen. We were last in the Majors. That has to be fixed. We’ve done a lot of work to see what the options are there.”

Fair enough. While I’d love for the Brewers to add Hamilton, it’s almost useless if the bullpen doesn’t improve too. So if that’s where all the money needs to go, so be it; the Brewers could still easily be contenders if that’s the only improvement they make this offseason.

At the same time, though, I wouldn’t completely shut the door on the Brewers signing Hamilton. If the opportunity presents itself and Hamilton doesn’t get any substantial offers from other teams- which he might not, because the “big spenders” don’t need outfield help- why not go for it? Since the departure of Prince Fielder, the Brewers have had a very right-handed dominant lineup, and Hamilton would nicely slot in between Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez at the core of the lineup.

But, as good as the Hamilton rumors have sounded, the bullpen should come first.

9:03p The Trade Deadline is tomorrow at 3:00 CT, and all Brewer fans are excited to see if Doug Melvin will make anymore trades before then. But, we have other things to be excited about at this point, such as a five-game winning streak that the Brewers are on right now.

Astros-Brewers Wrap-Up

The Brewers defeated the Astros again today, 6-2. Early on, the offense appeared to be nearly non-existent, as it has been the past few games. But, the Brewers got to Astros starter J.A. Happ in the middle innings to hand him his 13th loss. Yovani Gallardo, meanwhile, got his 12th win of the season, and looked like the ace he’s supposed to be for the Brewers.

The Brewers didn’t waste any time getting on the board first, as Corey Hart hit a lead-off opposite field homer to start the game. They also scored in the third on Nyjer Morgan’s RBI single, but wouldn’t get anything else until a breakout fifth inning. They got three in that inning, including a sacrifice fly from Casey McGehee and a two-run double from Jonathan Lucroy.

The Astros finally got on the board in the sixth on Angel Sanchez’s RBI single, but it was unearned towards Gallardo because of a Yuniesky Betancourt throwing error earlier in the inning.

The Brewers tacked on one more insurance run in the seventh inning on Prince Fielder’s monster 475-foot homer off of Astros reliever Aneury Rodriguez. The Astros also added another run from J.D. Martinez’s RBI double off a rusty Marco Estrada.

Gallardo continued his dominance of the Astros, going seven innings and giving up one run (none earned) on four hits. He walked none and struck out seven. Estrada and Kameron Loe finished off the game and gave him his 12th win of the season.

Happ continues to struggle for Astros

Happ had yet another bad start today, going just five innings and giving up five runs (two earned) on 10 hits. He walked none and struck out six. It was also his seventh consecutive start where he gave up at least five runs.

Hairston in Milwaukee, already on active roster

Jerry Hairston Jr., who was acquired in a trade with the Nationals earlier today, arrived in Milwaukee during the game with the Astros. He wasn’t available today, but is already on the active 25-man roster, so he’ll be available tomorrow.

Up next for the Crew…

The Brewers have already taken the series from the Astros, but have a chance to sweep them tomorrow. Chris Narveson (7-6, 4.41 ERA) will take the mound for the Crew and will look to give them their sixth consecutive win. Narveson has yet to get a win against the Astros, as he’s 0-2 with a 4.00 ERA in his career against them.

The Astros will counter with another starter who has really disappointed them this year in Brett Myers (3-11, 4.66 ERA). In his career, Myers is 5-4 with a 3.70 ERA against the Brewers.

Elsewhere around the division…

The Cardinals flat-out destroyed the Cubs, 13-5, despite the fact the Cubs got to an early 5-0 lead. They always find some way to lose, though… Anyway, the Cards are 1.5 games back, while the Cubs are 16.5 back.

The Pirates lost to the Phillies, 7-4. (It was Hunter Pence’s Phils debut, by the way, but he didn’t do anything). The Pirates are now 3.5 games back and continue to fall in the standings.